Sorghum - Libya

Sorghum bicolor - Sorghum is an ancient crop first domesticated in Northeastern Africa about 5,000 years ago. It serves as a food source for domesticated live stock and human beings. Sorghum is an ideal crop for arid regions; the leaves have a waxy cuticle and have the ability to roll up as a means to reduce transpiration; moisture lost through evaporation. The root-to-leaf surface area is large enough to provide a sufficient source of water. It is the world’s 5th most important cereal crop.

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The indigenous people of Northwestern Africa are known as Berbers or Amazighs. Several successful Berber states emerged in Northern Africa. The Zirids were a Sanhadja Berber dynasty governing over an area known as Ifriqiya and existed from 973 to 1148. The dynasty was weakened and then destroyed during the process of Arabization, a period beginning in the middle of the 11th century with the arrival of the Hilalians, an Arab tribe stemming from the Hejaz and Najd regions of Saudi Arabia.

Maize - Mexico

Maize was first domesticated by the indigenous people of the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico. Maize has become an important food source throughout the world. It is a hardy plant able to flourish in diverse climates. The leafy stalk produces cobs or ears of maize containing the seeds or kernels. The Mesoamericans used a planting system called the “three sisters,” a technique of planting maize, squash, and legumes into one field, a beneficial technique known as “companion planting.”

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Spain divided its claims and conquests in the Americas into various administrative entities. The Viceroyalty of New Spain was a territory and predecessor to the current state of Mexico, formed when independence from Spain was achieved in 1821. The viceroyalty was founded in 1535 and included Spanish territory in North America and surprisingly, the Philippines. New Spain did not serve as a Spanish colony; it had the legal status of an independent kingdom under Spanish control.

Sugar Cane - Saint Christopher and Nevis

Saccharum officinarum - Sugar cane, a member of the grass family, is cultivated in tropical and subtropical countries throughout the world. Sugar cane grows to a height of 3 to 6 meters and has stems 2 to 5 centimeters thick. The plant is endemic to South and Southeast Asia. Prior to the huge crops made available from the Americas, sugar was sold in Europe by the gram weight as a luxury item. It is a major crop with over 120 countries producing an astonishing 180 million tonnes of sugar.

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Saint Christopher and Nevis serve as the headquarters for the Eastern Caribbean dollar, a currency used by eight of the nine members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States; six independent nations and two British territories. The currency zone has been in place since 1965, succeeding the British West Indies dollar. The Eastern Caribbean dollar, abbreviated as EC$, is issued by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, located in Basseterre, the largest city on the island of Saint Christopher.

Rice - South Viet Nam

Oryza sativa - Rice is the edible seed of a species of grass in the poaceae family. There are two primary subspecies; the short-grained Japonica variety, also known as sticky rice, and the long-grained Indica variety. More nutritional calories are consumed by humans from rice than any other food source. Rice production ranks as the third largest agricultural commodity and is only surpassed by sugar cane and maize. The domestication of rice began in China’s Yangtze Valley about 10,000 years ago

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The Portuguese and Dutch failed in their attempts to set up a trading colony in Viet Nam. French efforts were successful and culminated in France establishing Cochinchina in 1862. By 1884, France had taken control of the entire country and divided the colony into three sections; Amman, Chochinchina, and Tonkin. The French were ousted by the Japanese in 1940. With the Japanese surrender in 1945, Viet Nam was engulfed in civil chaos and was divided into North and South Viet Nam by the 1954 Geneva Conference.